Ssangyong Tivoli XLV

The interior cabin of the Ssangyong XLV has been completely shared with that of the Tivoli, with no single major change executed here. However, thanks to changes in length and wheelbase, space on the inside has definitely seen an increase, thus boosting up the legroom, knee room, and boot space.

The dashboard design is a complete lift off from the Tivoli, which now has begun to show its age a bit now. Nevertheless, the flat-bottom steering wheel with piano black inserts and circular dials behind it as well as the touchscreen infotainment system do try to lift the ambience inside. The cluster of buttons for dual-zone automatic climate control looks a bit too cluttered and dated. However, the squared theme of the dashboard makes it look wide and big for a vehicle of this size.

The Tivoli was the first vehicle to make a departure from the weird and dated looking previous generation designs in a good way, which is a great thing for the Ssangyong XLV to start with. With longer proportions and substantial design changes, the XLV tries to carve a whole new identity for itself, thus setting it apart from the Tivoli.

The front fascia of the Ssangyong XLV has been completely lifted off from the Tivoli, which means that the XLV gets an aggressive and bold looking frontal stance with a sleek black bar in place of a big grille, ending up with large angular headlamps at both the ends. At the same time, the fog lamps too do get large housings around them, encased in silver finish.

The design post the B-pillar is where things start to change in the XLV as compared to the Tivoli. The door panels and pronounced squared wheel arches have been shared with the Tivoli, however, the long overhang at the rear, thick C- pillar and rear windshield extension on the sides give it an impression of a long vehicle, which it actually is.

At the rear, things get a bit diluted in the Ssangyong XLV – while the teeth shaped LED tail lamps do look a bit unique, the bland design of the boot lid doesn’t help much.

The Ssangyong XLV shares its mechanical underpinnings with the Tivoli, with the suspension combination of Macpherson struts at the front and torsion beam at the rear having a nice balance of firmness and suppleness in equal amount. However, the steering setup could have been better, as it is too soft for stability at higher speeds. Though, the smart steering modes (comfort, normal and sport) do try to iron out the inconsistencies a bit.

Like the interior cabin design, even the powertrain option of the Ssangyong XLV is shared with the Tivoli. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder diesel engine in the Ssangyong XLV is coupled to a 6-speed automatic gearbox and produces 115 PS of power and 300 Nm of torque, which is quite powerful with a great bottom end performance. 

The Ssangyong XLV is equipped with only the basic safety features like dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist and rear parking sensors. However, a few more modern safety features would have been welcomed.

The Ssangyong XLV possesses all the strong attributes of the Tivoli on which it is based, while the enhancements in dimensions and space do give it a sense of a bigger vehicle. The increase in rear-seat space and boot space has increased the practicality of the platform of Tivoli even more, thus making it a more sensible product in isolation.